US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to supply Israel with a batch of high-precision bombs worth $320 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The US administration has notified Congress on October 31 about the plans to supply Spice Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies, a type of precision-guided weapon fired by warplanes, the WSJ said.
According to the agreement, weapons manufacturer Rafael USA would transfer the bombs to its Israeli parent company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for use by the Israeli defense ministry.
“The weapons were requested by Israel before October 7, with an initial, informal notification sent to congressional leaders earlier this year,” WSJ added.
The weapons deal comes as the death toll in Gaza from Israel’s continued assaults surpassed 10,000 people, according to the local Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The health ministry affiliated with the Palestinian Authority reported that more than two-thirds of those killed in Gaza were women, children and elderly.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday that Gaza was “becoming a graveyard for children,” calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. “The nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity,” he said.
“Ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces and continued bombardment are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and UN facilities — including shelters. No one is safe. At the same time, Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields and continue to launch rockets indiscriminately towards Israel,” Guterres added.
He stressed: “The unfolding catastrophe makes the need for a humanitarian ceasefire more urgent with every passing hour. The parties to the conflict — and indeed, the international community — face an immediate and fundamental responsibility: to stop the inhuman collective suffering and dramatically expand humanitarian aid to Gaza,” Al Arabiya writes.
